John Singer Sargent, ‘Study of Mme Gautreau’ c.1884. The adverse criticism of the finished portrait at the Paris Salon of 1884 so damaged Sargent's reputation that the following year he moved to live permanently in Britain. His later portraits were never so adventurous.

john singer sargent: Madame X (detail) Oil painting. 1883-84. Sargent's famous and controversial work. Here we have a large detail. Sargent had originally painted the woman's right strap (our left) slipped off her shoulder and onto her arm. After the critical storm, he repainted the strap onto the shoulder as we see it now

John Singer Sargent's "Portrait of Madame X" (Madame Pierre Gautreau) (1884) His most controversial work, one that he agonized over and reworked. The original showed the left should strap fallen. It was also his personal favorite of all his work.